Is it worth buying an iBook these days?

Question

Level 1

4 points

Is it worth buying an iBook these days?

Hi!

I will in all likelihood make a MAC laptop my own in a few weeks and am torn between the MacBook Pro and the iBook. The MacBook is obviously much more powerful but plagued by many problems that I would rather stay away from. In light of that, is it work buying an iBook then? I like performance and want this Laptop to take me through Grad School. I am running applications such as MATLAB or LabVIEW which are fairly power hungry. A maxed out iBook is still $1000 cheaper than the MacBook configuration that I would desire, but how is its performance? Should I perhaps stick around and wait out until the MacBook Pro issues are resolved?

Thanks for all and any input.

Regards,

Christian

Posted on May 8, 2006 2:50 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

nfs2

Level 2

225 points

May 8, 2006 3:09 PM in response to cwinter

Its really a question of what you can afford. If you can afford a macbook pro, get it. Most if not all the problems have been fixed, but keep in mind even the ibook isnt perfect.

Apple should be announcing the intel ibook replacement (macbook) tommorow, so dont go buying a ppc ibook right now..

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Answer 2

~JB-

Level 1

120 points

May 8, 2006 5:07 PM in response to cwinter

You might way a day or so for the announcement of the new Macbook (not pro). It may be faster than the ibook and perhaps also able to run Boot Camp which will let you install Windows on it in case you would ever need to run a Windows app for school.

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Answer 3

robzilla

Level 1

51 points

May 8, 2006 7:14 PM in response to cwinter

I think it boils down to what you are using the computer for. If you are using photoshop and do not want something slow then Ibook or Powerbook. If you need software that is not available to run native on a intel mac then I would buy the power pc.

If it is a matter of reliability the new revisions of the macbook pro seem to be fine. It is a beautiful machine. And intel is the future of macs. However, this is a transition period. We do not know what new products will be coming out and it seems as though there is a lot of development going on right now at Apple and Intel. Designed obsilesence. Buy the latest and greatest today and tomorrow something better will come out.

So my suggestion is to go to the apple store and try the models you are interested in. Get a feel for each machine. See how fast they open programs and work. See which one will have the software you need to run. Check out Apple on-line. There are great re-furbished models of powerbooks and ibooks available for a great price. My iBook was refurbished. It had a few barely noticible scratches but other than that is just as a new one for $250 less!

Personally I like to get a good deal. I chose the power pc because it is a known variable. Everything works well. The powerpc architecture is really rather amazing and I do not regret for a second my choice. Realize that only the iBook and PowerMac have not been released with an intel chip. So before the end of the year they will. Do you want more expensive but new or less expensive but old. Both are 100 times better than any pc alternative in terms of form and function so you really have nothing to lose either way!!

Robzilla

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